England will look back on the Ashes series as a “lost opportunity” according to Mark Butcher, despite putting in a performance at Old Trafford which could have represented “the peak of Bazball”.
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Rain brought an unsatisfying end to the fourth Test match in Manchester, with no play possible on Day Five for England to wrap up the remaining five wickets they needed to level the series. While there have been suggestions of introducing a reserve day to Test matches or allowing more flexibility to playing times to mitigate for rain, Butcher, speaking on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast, argued that rains have always been a part of the game.
“The first three days was exactly what England have been looking for from the beginning of the series really,” said Butcher. “But the forecast was bad from a long way out and it kind of did exactly what it promised to do. I’ve played enough cricket to know that battling against the elements, trying to win games before the rain comes in or trying to save games before the rain comes in have always been part of the game of cricket. It’s a shame the series, or the Ashes has been decided that way but the series is still alive.
“England really will look back on the whole thing, no matter what happens at The Oval as a lost opportunity. Even in the first two Test matches that they lost, they had opportunities to reverse both of those results and just weren’t quite smart enough or quite experienced enough perhaps to take advantage of them… which left them with a mountain to climb.
“Winning three on the bounce against Australia is a Herculean task. They probably would have won the game if it weren’t for the weather, but still that’s baked into cricket in England. Bad weather has always played a part, sometimes it helps you out sometimes it dumps all over you and that’s the game.”
England have also come under some criticism for their over rates during the game which, along with Australia, resulted in 26 overs lost across the first three days of play. Had those overs all been bowled, England would have had more time to pick up the final wickets they needed to take the win.
Over rates have been a hot topic of conversation recently, with the ICC announcing at their latest general meeting that the sanctions for failing to get through enough overs in a day would be relaxed. Fines for players have been lowered for such offences and the threshold to dock World Test Championship points has been raised.
“Very simply I’d make it compulsory to bowl thirty over sessions,” said Butcher on his solution to the over rates problem. “I think a 10:30 start in the UK is probably a good thing. Through the Channel 4 years when I was playing you started at 10:30 because they had to get it in before the news or whatever, a that was absolutely fine.
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“I simply wouldn’t allow the players to go off for lunch or tea until the 30 overs were done in session which would do two things. It would annoy the players and it would annoy the umpires as well, because their breaks get diminished. It would force teams into doing something about the speed they bowl their overs and the type of teams that they pick.
“I don’t think you can have an open ended finish on a day, I think you need to know at some point there is going to be an end. But I would start taking the time out of the 11, 13 the 15 blokes on the field, you make them responsible for the amount of time off in a day they get and I bet you it would make a difference.”
Despite the possibility of regaining the Ashes now lost, Butcher was full of praise for England’s performance at Old Trafford.
“The batting as always will take the plaudits,” said Butcher. “Going at seven an over for that incredible passage of play on Day Two with Zak Crawley and Joe Root, Moeen Ali played superbly at No.3. But bowling Australia out on Day One, or Day One and a bit, on that pitch for a very very small first innings score for the conditions was also an absolute triumph. I think they will rightly say that could have been the absolute peak Bazball performance ever since this whole thing began.”
“I still think this Test match [at The Kia Oval] is going to absolutely fizz with excitement,” added Butcher. “England have found their mojo again and they’re going to come out absolutely annoyed and bristling with intent to put the cherry on the series from Manchester and level the series 2-2. For Australia, none of their players have been on the winning side of a series in England and they’re going to want to put that on their CV. Some of them are not going to be back again and Australia will then be able to say absolutely 100 per cent that they have retained the Ashes and won the series.
“Do you think Australia are going to be happy about the way they were dealt with in Manchester? For that to be the overriding feeling of how the Ashes was won? So they’re going to come roaring back at us at The Oval, and we will roar right back, and I think it’s going to be, if the weather doesn’t follow us South, it’s going to be an epic encounter again. So cheer up everyone!”
